Railway signal-torpedo.



F. DUTCHER.

RAILWAY SIGNAL TORPEDO. APPLICATION FILED SEPT- l3. l9l3.

Pate nt ed June 13, 1916.

SIGNAL COMPANY, OF PITTSBURGH, JERSEY.

PENNSYLVANIA, A CORPORATION OF-NEXV RAILVIAY SIGNAL TORPE DO.

Specification'of Letters Patent. Patented J 11116 13, 1916.

Application filed September 13, 1913. Serial 0. 789,620.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK DU'rc rnR, a citizen of the United States, residing at Versailles, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railway Signal-Torpedoes, of which the following 1s a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawing.

My invention relates to improvements in railway signal torpedoes, and is of that type which is frequently referred to in the commercial art as the Non-flying torpedoes, by reason of the fact that the explosive case is made of either fiber or very thin tinfoil.

The primary object of my present invention is to provide an open ended tube or case which contains the explosive, the open ends of the tube extending beyond the explosive, and a metallic clip or base which has its ends turned over and clamping the open ends of the tube tightly together, the clip thus serving the purpose of tightly closing the ends of the tube and forming a base for the attachment of the rail engaging strap.

A further object of my present invention is to insure a water-proof sealing of the open ends of the tube by first placing within the open ends a water-proof material, preferably a water-proofing cement so that when the open ends of the tubes are clamped by the base or clip, the closure of the ends of the tube is made water-proof.

In the accompanying drawings-Figu-re l is a top plan view of my improved torpedo, showing it attached to the railroad rail. Fig. 2 is av detached perspective view of my improved torpedo. Fig. 3 is a sectional new on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a perspective view showing the parts composing the torpedo in separated relation with modified construction of metal clip.

Referring now to the drawings, 1 indicates the tubular portion or case of my improved torpedo and this is made either of fiber, such as paper or cloth, or very thin tinfoil to produce a case which when it is exploded is nonfiying, so that injury to persons who happen to be near the torpedo is prevented by any flying parts of the torpedo case.

The explosive 2 is preferably of a tablet form as shown, though this is not absolutely necessary as it may be of a granular form. It is preferably made of tablet form to prevent it from sifting to the open ends of the tube, which might be the case in the use of thegranular form of explosive.

As shown the ends 3 of the case extend beyond the explosive so that they can be clamped together by the over-turned ends 4: of a metallic base or clip 5.

After the explosive is placed in the center of the open ended tube,a suitable amount of water-proof material 6 is placed within the open ends of the tube, as shown in Fig. 4:, so that when the ends of the torpedo are pressed together, as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the cement istightly compressed between the adjacent ends of the tube, thus eifecting a water-proof closure of the ends of the tube. Attention is also called to the fact that by reason of the metallic clip or base, the upper or outer wall of the case is brought to thelower wall, thus producing what is known'in the art as a wedge-shaped'torpedo, the advantages of which are well-known to those skilled in the art.

As here shown, the rail-engaging member 7 passes between the lower wall of'the case 1 and the clip or base 5, and the base is preferably provided with one or more projections 8, for the purpose of holding the member from end-wise movement between the case and the clip. The clip 5 may be provided with a depression for the rail-engaging member as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, or without the depression as shown in Fig. 4. Also preferably the clip is provided with a plurality of projections 9 adjacent its ends for the purpose of holding the clip from lateral or sliding movement on the case.

I am aware that it is old to provide a tube as a case and to double over the ends of the case for the purpose of making a closure and to hold these turned over ends in their double positions by means of a clip or base.

This construction has the advantage over the doubled over ends in that it avoids the expense of doubling over the ends and holding them in that position until the clip can be applied. In practice it is found to be difiicult to fold over the ends and hold them in position while the clip is applied. The improvement here shown simplifies that type of torpedo and reduces the expense of manufacture by reason of simplifying its construction.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is- 1. A railway torpedo comprising an open ended containing case, a plate having upwardly turned ends, said ends of said plate clamped down on the open ends of the containing case thereby both closing the open ends and attaching the plate to the case,

7 and an explosive compound of tablet form Within the containing case, the said compound of a length less than. the distance between the clamped ends of the containing case.

2. In an improved torpedo, the combination with an open ended fiber tube, an eX- plosive compound placed therein With the open ends of the tube projecting beyond the compound, of a clip or'base extending longitudinally of the tube and throughout its length, the ends of the clip projecting beyond the ends of the open ended tube and Copies of this patent may be obtained ends of the case projecting beyond the compound, of a clip or base of a length to project beyond the ends of the case and doubled over and clamping the open endsvof the case together at points beyond the explosive compound, whereby the clamping action is be yond and not against the compound.

In testimony whereof I hereunto affiX my signature in the presence of tWo Witnesses.

FRANK DUTCHER. Witnesses R. W. JUNKER, G. M. LEONARD.

Washington, D. 0. 

